Today's Opinions

The “classic” songs are the ones of which we never tire. Somehow they transcend the dulling influence of repetition on our emotions and return again and again to engage the soul. Of the thousands of tunes written each year in this country alone, only a few have that “something’ to become a classic, and each genre boasts its own.

Think. How many true music “classics” can you name in, let us say, one night? Need a little prompting?

Valentine’s Day precedes Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent by only four days this year. What a contrast in these two days.

Valentine’s Day is a day when many couples celebrate their love with cards, flowers and gifts---gifts often in some form of chocolate. (If you eat equal amounts of white chocolate and dark chocolate, is that a balanced diet?)

“Well, Mr. Boone, this is the Springfield Sun calling to tell you we noticed your subscription to the Sun is close to elapsing and we would like to keep your business. We have a once-in-a-lifetime offer that we believe will convince you to renew. Would you like to hear the offer?”

Football is one of my favorite things to watch on TV, but during the regular season I rarely see the commercials. I’m among the millions of fans who watch DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel, and with that, the programming is a barrage of highlights and live peeks into games as the action unfolds, but with no commercials. If you’re a football fan, watch it and you’ll never want to give it up.

I met a guy once back when I was in the Navy who loved music. We were serving together on an aircraft carrier. This fellow could play several different instruments and had even formed a band among some of the other guys that were on the ship.

These aren’t the words of one devotee of Islam peacefully whispering to a fellow follower during a quiet moment of worship. Instead, it is a statement made by Amine el Khalifi — formerly Christopher Lee Cornell, an unemployed deejay — to the judge at his sentencing of 30 years in prison after pleading guilty for planning to detonate pipe bombs inside the U.S. Capitol in Washington and then gun down people as they fled the building.